Britain’s diverse Muslim communities have been under an intense scrutiny in recent years. A few bigots tar all our Muslim (and, indeed, all migrants, or refugees, or minority) communities, often carelessly lumped together, with the terrorist brush. Others blame the whole community for the behaviour of the minority. Every action and every opinion is monitored, measured and held up for inspection. It is a heavy burden to bear.

Yes despite this, despite the reality of material deprivation and disadvantage facing a disproportionate proportion of Britain’s Muslims, despite the continuing incidence of racist and religious discrimination and despite deeply-felt anxieties about international affairs, from Iraq to Lebanon to Palestine, a very different, and more positive picture is emerging. Behind the media stereotyping are real people striving to achieve at school and at work; getting involved in their neighbourhoods and becoming active citizens. I see the evidence of this all the time- in the citizenship development work undertaken by the Arabic-speaking women’s project, for example, and in the excellent work being done with young people by the Bangladeshi-led London Tigers, who, I was delighted to hear, have just been awarded £250,000 by the London Development Agency to promote community sports in the run-up to the Olympics. But clearly, my anecdotal experience is not out of line with the broader reality, for a new survey, released this week, shatters a number of stereotypes. The Gallup poll, taken amongst Muslims in London, found not only an exceptionally high level of loyalty to Britain, but a significantly higher level of confidence in the institutions of democracy than the population as whole! Whilst identifying strongly with their faith (69% identify strongly with Islam, compared with a 30% identification with faith amongst non-Muslims), what is clear is the ability to comfortably reconcile faith with British nationality and a commitment to active citizenship. The overwhelming majority of London’s Muslim communities support the learning of English and the development of educational and employment skills amongst migrants. 81% condemn violence even if used in a noble cause (9% HIGHER than the population as a whole), and 82% agreed with the need for tolerance for other religions, again, higher than the comparable views of the general population.

All this should give grounds for optimism about our ability to shape a society which, though indeed much changed over recent decades, allows people to reconcile a range of identities, reflecting faith, culture or lifestyle, with their citizenship, and to offer respect and tolerance to others. The genuine challenges we do face, at home and abroad, can, perhaps, be tackled without the intra-community suspicion, or even hostility, than the doom-mongerers had feared.

KAREN SIGNS EARLY DAY MOTION ON THIS ISSUE…

That this House welcomes the findings of the Gallup poll study on the attitudes of Muslim residents of London, which shows that 88 per cent. considered attacks on civilians and 81 per cent. considered violence in a `noble cause’ not to be justified and that a much higher proportion of Muslims than the population at large very strongly identified with their country, and had confidence in the police, honesty of elections, the judicial system and the Government; considers that these findings put some tabloid reporting of the Muslim community to shame; and urges the media to reflect this very positive image of London’s Muslims to ensure fair balance when commenting on issues of relevance to the Muslim community.